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Drachm - Hormazd II
| Issuer | Sasanian Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 303-309 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 4.30 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Inscriptional Pahlavi |
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| Reverse description | A Zoroastrian fire altar with ribbons depicted at center, with a royal bust emerging from the sacred flames facing left, a distinctive iconographic motif of the Sasanian dynasty. The altar is flanked by two standing attendants acting as guardians: the figure to the left wears an eagle crown with korymbos, while the figure to the right wears a mural crown also with korymbos. Two pellets are positioned to the left of the flames, serving as a mint or regnal control mark. A Pahlavi legend runs in the field, and the entire composition is enclosed within a beaded border. |
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| Additional information |
Hormazd II ruled for roughly six years before being killed — according to later sources — by his own nobles, who then blinded one son, imprisoned another, and installed the infant Shapur II by placing the crown on his unborn child's womb. The political violence surrounding this reign makes any surviving silver from it a direct artifact of a court in crisis. Göbl's classification places this among the earliest Sasanian die structures, and the SNS Iran reference confirms a very limited number of documented specimens.